Curriculum Mapping

Note: We are explicitly separating the course evaluation process (using CLOs) from
the program evaluation process (using PLOs).&nbsp; While CLOs may still be used to support PLOs, all CLOs do not have to be included in a program’s curriculum map.

Summary: Programs will create a curriculum map indicating the points in the program at which
evidence will be collected to assess student progress toward meeting program-level
student learning outcomes (institutionally abbreviated as “PLO”).

Justification: Curriculum mapping will facilitate departmental review of programs for coherence
and quality and will contribute to Southeast meeting the accreditation criteria of
the Higher Learning Commission (HLC).

Important Dates:

June 1, 2016: Complete Stage 1; PLOs should be submitted to the Director of Assessment.

During this stage of the mapping process, program faculty will identify assessments
that can be used to evaluate PLOs.

The simplest approach will be to select CLOs that provide supporting data for a particular
PLO. Since each CLO is already associated with one or more assessments, the data necessary
for evaluation of PLOs is already being generated.

In some cases, though, programs will want to use external assessments or other assessments
not tied to a particular course to evaluate student achievement of PLOs.

There is no magic number of assessments that need to be associated with each PLO.
This should be the guiding question when trying to determine how much evidence is
enough: Would the evidence provided justify any claims we might make about this PLO?

Curriculum maps should be submitted using the available Excel template. Below is an
example of how the template should be used.

Note: Curriculum maps usually include more information regarding where certain concepts
are introduced and reinforced in a particular program. Southeast has chosen to focus
first on identifying those places in programs where summative assessment occurs. It
is likely, however, that in the future we will revisit the “introduction” and “reinforcement”
stages. Programs may choose to begin that work now.